3 Under-the-Radar Daily Fantasy Basketball Plays for 3/17/16

A deep power forward player pool may leave Paul Millsap overlooked, despite a spectacular matchup.

If you have played daily fantasy sports for very long, you realize by now the importance of being contrarian, especially in large-field tournaments. Being able to recognize which players are going to be owned by the majority of the field and find players that you think have a similar point projection but will come at much lower ownership can really separate yourself from your opponents.

It’s a lot easier in NFL to identify the players who will be low-owned due to Thursday Night slates, but NBA can be much more difficult if you aren’t an experienced player.

The purpose of this article will be to bring you my favorite high-upside players at each position that will likely go overlooked and give you an edge.

Keep in mind when constructing rosters that these are contrarian picks. There is a reason that they will be overlooked by many; they are risky plays. If possible, I’d try to relegate these players to GPP-only use, where their high risk-reward styles make more sense.

Paul Millsap, PF, Atlanta Hawks

FanDuel Price: $8,000

Why He Will Go Overlooked:

Power forward is chalked full of enticing options today, and few will go out of there way to pay up for Paul Millsap.

The ownership should be spread evenly enough among all the power forward options to leave Millsap underowned, considering he is the most expensive of the bunch.

Why You Should Use Him:

Millsap is the top-priced option at power forward, and he has justified that pricing with his recent play. Over his past six games, he has averaged 17 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 39 FanDuel points.

If you have followed my "Matchups That Fit" series, you will know that this matchup is a perfect fit for Millsap's skill-set. The Nuggets have struggled mightily to defend the pick and roll, as well as the post up -- both areas in which Millsap thrives.

Denver has allowed the most points in the post this season, and Kenneth Faried has allowed opponents to shoot 56.3 percent against him. The Nuggets have also been generous to opposing posts in the pick and roll. They've allowed opposing roll-men in the pick and roll to post an Effective Field Goal Percentage (eFG%) of 57.6 percent -- the highest mark in the league.

Millsap had no problem exploiting their weaknesses in their one previous meeting this season -- dropping 22 points, 9 rebounds, and 41.3 FanDuel points in just 28 minutes.

While he has struggled recently, the numbers suggest that Smith should bounce-back soon -- possibly tonight.

Per NBAwowy.com, Smith has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of Jahlil Okafor's absence this season. Smith's Usage Rate with Okafor on the floor is 23.9 percent but raises to 28.5 percent with him off. Smith has also averaged 1.08 FanDuel points per minute without Okafor, as opposed to 0.86 with him.

Robert Covington and Jerami Grant will miss tonight's game too, which means Smith will be required to take on an even heavier offensive load against John Wall, who isn't exactly known for his defense.

Smith has done well in this matchup this season, averaging 38.2 FanDuel points in three games against Washington as a member of the 76ers, including a 40.7 point performance against them just a few weeks ago.

Nikola Jokic, C, Denver Nuggets

FanDuel Price: $6,400

Why He Will Go Overlooked:

Nikola Jokic's minutes are always insecure, and center has several viable options.

Why You Should Use Him:

Jokic's season can pretty much be summed up by looking at his FanDuel point totals in his past seven games: 29.2, 32.6, 8.5, 46, 38.3, 34.9, 37.4. The young big man has dealt with inconsistency most of the season and is subjected to volatile rotations on a regular basis -- which makes him a scary cash game option.

Jokic has shown elite upside all season, though, which is why he is such an elite tournament option in the right scenarios. I believe tonight is one such scenario.

For starters, Kenneth Faried is questionable for tonight's game. Even if he is able to give it a go, he is unlikely to play his usual minutes. It will be harder for Malone to justify leaving Jokic on the bench for long if Faried is banged up.

Even if he sees limited minutes, Jokic has shown the ability to be highly productive in this matchup. In their one previous meeting, Jokic double-doubled and put up 37.5 FanDuel points in just 18 minutes.

Atlanta has struggled to defend opposing centers all season, as reflected by their rank of 13th (of 16 teams tonight) against the position in our Matchup/Game Composite tool.

A big part of their struggles against big men is the fact that the Hawks cannot keep them off the glass. Atlanta ranks second-worst in Rebounding Rate on the season, and they have allowed the sixth-most points on putbacks this season. Jokic has been effective on the offensive glass, ranking fourth among starting centers in putback points per possession.